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2922
January 15th, 2004 19:00
CD-RW is unreadable, have uninstalled and used ResourceCD
I've got a Dell 8250 with a Samsung CDR-RW SW-240B and I'm having problems that I can't seem to solve on my own. When I place a disk in the drive, the PC does not recognize that there is a disk in the drive. I uninstalled the drive and reinstalled it to no avail. Windows recognizes the drive and reports it is operating properly. I also booted to the Dimension ResourceCD and attempted to run some diagnostic tests on the drive, specifically the "Write Test". Unfortunately, I was unable to select the Write Test, it wouldn't let me. Can anyone suggest what may be wrong? I currently have a downloaded file that is "waiting to be written to CD" and like I said, the PC claims the drive is empty when there is actually a disk in it. I should also mention that when I first got the PC, I wasn't able to write some music files to a CD, and uninstalling and installing the drive solved the problem. Since then I haven't really used the Write feature so I'm totally stumped. Thanks for any help.
Rich
Apladay
70 Posts
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January 16th, 2004 01:00
rcaffelle,
What software are you using to make your burns? If the OS isn't having, or showing problems the burner, then the next step is to look at the software, such as a version upgrade/patch.
cheers,
fireberd
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January 16th, 2004 10:00
It sounds like you are using the CD burning built into Windows XP's Windows Explorer (actually not the best way to do CD burning). You should do the CD burning with the CD burner program rather than the Windows Explorer, as the Windows Exporer burning is very limited in what it can do.
However, it appears the CD burner is not being detected as a CD burner, also the "autoplay" is not coming up for the drive, but that may also be related to the drive not being detected properly.
Since you've stated you uninstalled the drive, in the Windows Device Manager, and then restarted and let Windows reinstall it (that is the way to do it and is it the way you did it?) which usually takes care of many of these types of problems. Look at this drive in the Windows Device Manager and see what type of CD drive it detected it as. It should have detected it as a CD burner.
Finally, you may have to reset the "NVRAM". If the BIOS is not detecting the drive properly, Windows will not detect it or not detect it correctly. There are also some "filters" in the Registry that may cause improper drive detection. However, the first thing I would suggest is the NVRAM reset. There may also be some Dell firmware updates for the drive and if there are those should also be applied.
Jeff (Predator) has the reference and information on his web site for CD drive issues. Suggest you scan through the site to see if there are any firmware updates for your specific drive model and also for the NVRAM clearing procedure. Here is the link, Click Me
rcaffelle
2 Posts
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January 16th, 2004 16:00
Fireberd,
Under device manager, the CD-RW has : Device Type: DVD/CD-ROM drives
Is this a problem? After posting this message, I called Dell and they've sent me a new drive which I will have tomorrow. Now I'm worried that maybe there is another issue. When I install (physically) this new drive, should the device manager be listing a different "Device Type" than it currently is? If Windows is not recognizing this as a burner, is it a Windows issue or hardware issue? I guess I'll have a better idea tomorrow when I install the new drive and see what happens. Maybe I'll have a new problem to deal with.
Thanks
KCLARK623
1 Message
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January 16th, 2004 19:00
I have a Dimension 2400 with 2 CD bays - the RW drive would not read any CDs at all. I tried for ages to get help from Dell, who said everything from remove external devices to clear NVRAM.
As it turns out, it was a simple answer. There was a conflict with the Multimedia Sound driver on my machine. I found it under the "Control Panel", "Performance & Maint.", "System", "Device Manager". Towards the bottom, expand the menu next to "Sounds" and see if a yellow exclamation point appears. I had to uninstall the sound driver, reboot my machine, and voila, problem solved.
kashford
1 Message
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January 16th, 2004 19:00